Summary
Plot twist: my uterus did NOT fall out.
In this episode, I wander back through the strangely misguided athletics messages of my youth, namely, that girls absolutely should not run because, according to my parents, my uterus might fall out. (Yes, really.) Fast-forward a few decades, and here I am in my mid-50s, having gone from enthusiastic fitness walker to full-blown runner, now staring down the start line of my very first ultra-marathon.
I share how I got from “running is forbidden” to “sure, let’s run absurd distances for fun,” and how shedding those old myths opened the door to a passion I never saw coming. It’s a story about hilariously outdated advice and discovering that it’s never too late to choose your own adventure, especially one with a lot of miles.
Join me as I puzzle, laugh, and jog my way into this unexpected chapter as Momma Runs an Ultra.
Links
Chapters
- 00:05 - Starting the Ultra Journey
- 00:16 - The Journey to Running
- 01:31 - The Journey to Running: Breaking Barriers
- 02:08 - A New Approach to Fitness: From Walking to Running
- 03:04 - The Journey to Ultra Running
- 03:18 - The Journey to Ultra Running
Recommended If You Like
ultra running, running after 50, female runners, couch to 5K, overcoming running myths, distance running for beginners, fitness journey, late start running, ultra marathon training, running motivation, women in sports, age and fitness, running tips for women, running stories, first ultra marathon, transitioning to running, fitness after 50, training plans for beginners, mental health and running, personal running experiences, medical myths, 1984 olympics, Joan Benoit Samuelson
Transcript
00:00:00.480 - 00:03:22.800
I mean, plot twist. My uterus did not even fall out. Hey, y', all, this is Mama Runs an Ultra.
I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who kind of said, hey, y', all, watch this. And signed up to run my very first ultra. As of today, December 5, 2025, I have never run further than 16 miles.
And the race I'm signed up for is like 30 something. And I'm still in that stage of going. What the hell was I thinking? I did not grow up as a runner.
In fact, I was not allowed to run when I was in high school. I wanted to do cross country because they seemed kind of like a cool group of folks.
And I really liked the fact that you could be part of the team and never, ever have to run the races because only the top seven got to run. And my school was one of those pretty competitive schools, so there was no way that was ever going to happen for me.
Well, the summer before the season that I wanted to run, the coach sent a summer training plan on a piece of paper to our house for new runners. And the first step was run a mile. Well, I couldn't run a mile. And then my parents read the list and they said, you're not allowed to do that.
Your uterus will fall out. Looking back on this from my 50s, I can tell you if your uterus would fall out from distance running. So many women would be running voluntarily.
But plot twist, my uterus did not fall out, but I also did not run the mile ever. I wasn't allowed to because it was too far for girls. And at the time, women were not even allowed to run in the Olympics marathon.
Yep, some of y' all remember that between the stereotype of bad for your knees, possible medical emergencies of uteri falling out, and my parents favorite quote, you'll use up your lifetime heartbeats, they really believed all this stuff. I. I was not a runner. And that did not change until my mid-40s. From my 30s through my mid-40s, I was a dedicated fitness walker.
Three miles a day, three days a week. That's it. And I was convinced that that was too much. At some point, walking was just taking too long. And I found couch to 5K. Now this is old school.
Couch to 5K on a piece of paper. Before the apps, I don't think I even had a smartphone yet. I don't even know if they existed. I didn't have a GPS watch or any way of measuring it.
So I found this loop.
It was a little over a mile around in a neighborhood down the street from me and I would run one mailbox, walk one mailbox, run one mailbox, walk one mailbox. And it was supposed to be an eight week training plan, but by the end of the eight weeks, I was running about a mile and a half, not a 5K.
So it took me another six months to build all the way up to being able to run a 5k without stopping. And at that point, for many, many years, I ran three miles a day, three days a week. Somewhere along the lines, it became fun.
Honestly, you could have never convinced me of that so objectively, here I am in my late 50s, definitely more physically fit than I was 25 years ago. What does that have to do with running an Ultra? I don't know.
But somehow we all end up either buying into the myths we grew up with or waking up one day and going, that was total bullshit. So that's where I am. How did this lead to running an Ultra? Well, that's a long story. And that's why we're here as Momma runs an ultra.
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